Margrave’s Bastard Son was The Emperor [EN]: Chapter 567

While the three were infiltrating deep below the wall, Canna and Wakion were drawing the enemy’s attention outside.

They were buying time by taking down soldiers with just enough magic to keep the wall from collapsing, until Clark, Gypsy, and the mysterious ranged attacker were dealt with inside.

Boom! Boom!

“Ugh!”

“Come on, yeah, good! Keep coming, you bastards!”

“Grab them! Grab them and kill them!”

“Yeah! Come on!”

Just as Canna and Wakion were readjusting their swords and charging at the soldiers—

A massive black armor appeared among the soldiers being swept away like fallen leaves. It was the armor made from dragon scales in Ruswena.

Following that, dozens of black armors poured out from behind the soldiers at the front. Canna and Wakion swallowed hard, as if they knew this was coming.

‘It’s okay. We can do this.’

It was the same armor that had turned Beric and Barsabe into a bloody mess ten years ago. Back then, it took several magic swordsmen working together to barely hold them off, but now they were clearly being pushed back even on the defensive.

The Burgos soldiers approached step by step, grinning triumphantly, while Canna and Wakion didn’t retreat, instead reaching behind their jackets.

“How dare you come here and cause a ruckus! We’ll tear you to shreds!”

“We’re pretty good at tearing mouths too!”

“Shut up! Bariel bastards!”

Swish!

What Canna and Wakion pulled out were special weapons made by the Dera tribe. They were short sticks, about the size of a palm, but when lightly swung, their length doubled.

“You said we could catch them with this, right?”

“Focus!”

“Yeah, focus! Let’s do it!”

Even though they had lengthened, they were thin and unimpressive, looking no different from toys of children playing soldiers. But there was no room for further doubt.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

The black armors charged with heavy footsteps, and the two split left and right to face them simultaneously.

They were comrades who had eaten, slept, and clashed swords together for more than half their lives. Without any communication, Canna swung her attack with all her might from her right knee to her waist, while Wakion aimed for the left shoulder and head.

Clang!

Clang!

A clear sound rang out briefly, and then, the power of the magic swordsmen was directly transmitted, denting the black armor in several places.

The two didn’t miss the opportunity and immediately turned their bodies to stab the spots they had targeted again. This time, Canna on the left, Wakion on the right.

Crack! Rip!

Canna and Wakion’s eyes widened for a moment. It was the sound of the black armor completely breaking. Looking back, there wasn’t a single spot on the black armor, from head to toe, that wasn’t cracked.

The soldier inside the black armor staggered for a moment, as if he had fainted from the external impact, and then fell forward.

“This-”

“Looks like equipment matters after all.”

“Hey, hey! Are you okay?”

“Ugh, g-go! Kill them!”

The black armor soldiers who had been watching from behind paused, and then attacked the two intruders with screams.

But according to reason, everything in the world has its pros and cons. The fact that there were countless enemies at the Agiar base was a problem, but the fact that the gaps in the wall were narrow, preventing them from charging at the same time, was welcome.

“Let’s go! Canna!”

“Wakion!”

The two faced the black armors that were charging again, and ran forward.

Right. Since we’re dancing with swords here anyway, wouldn’t it be nice to smash the Ruswena black armors while we’re at it? For the sake of weakening the enemy’s power in the future.

Swish!

‘But even with the Dera tribe’s weapons, the black armors feel a bit different from before. Have we grown?’

‘They say Ruswena is recklessly producing black armors with illegally farmed dragon scales. It could be due to the drop in quality.’

‘They’ve only imitated the ones from the past.’

‘It’s doable. It’s doable!’

Clang!

They took down five black armors in a row, just the two of them. The moment they tried to wipe the sweat flowing down their chins—

“Canna! Wakion!”

They heard someone calling them.

There was no way the Burgos side would know their names, and it wasn’t the voices of their comrades. Then it must be Clark or Gypsy, who had made contact with their comrades.

“Where are you?!”

“Over here! To the left!”

“Damn it, I can’t see! Wakion! Find them and take them out!”

When Canna gestured, Wakion hesitated.

“What are you doing? Go quickly.”

“But-”

“Where’s the ‘but’ during a mission?”

“…See you soon.”

“Yeah. Let’s see each other again.”

Wakion ran towards the sound, and soon confirmed a man with his side gripped, waving his hand towards them. He seemed unable to move easily due to his injuries. He immediately approached the man and put one arm around his shoulder to support him.

“Clark?”

“…Yes.”

“Looks like you met Beric. Here, hold on tight.”

Wakion jumped to the highest point of the wall in one go. And just as he was about to grab the flagpole—

Boom!

The ground shook greatly, and something exploded.

He almost fell, but Wakion held Clark’s body tightly and stuck to the wall. Now, the only options were to shoot magic into the sky to call the dragon again, or to ask for help from a mage…

“Huh?”

Wakion and Clark muttered at the same time.

Slowly, blue and black smoke was rising from underground. It looked like a fire, but it was clearly different from a normal fire.

Swish-

The smoke flowed into the gaps between the soldiers, then over the wall, and its density gradually increased.

While the two were looking around with puzzled faces, Ian, who was fighting against the Ruswena mages in the sky, noticed something and turned around.

“What is that?”

“Did Rutherford do something again?”

“More importantly, Ian, you need to treat your injury right away! The blood is still flowing from your stomach-”

“Come this way for a moment!”

“In front! Keep blocking them well!”

“Yes, the Ruswena guys are too busy worrying about the bottom! Hurry up while you have the chance!”

“Tch! Then that means they don’t know about it either.”

“It seems like Rutherford is acting alone!”

“First! Protect Ian!”

Thud!

The mages who pulled Ian back roughly injected themselves with a syringe, amplifying their magic. Then, they nonchalantly transferred their power to Ian. They were worried about Ian’s condition, which was not good due to the wound in his stomach.

Ian felt the warm magic of his comrades filling him and lightly bit his lower lip. His pale complexion was slowly returning.

“Whew. I’m relieved now.”

“But what the heck was that explosion? And what’s with the dark blue smoke?”

Ian quietly told the mages who were grumbling while watching below.

“…Gypsy is dying.”

* * *

‘That damn, bastard, ugh…’

Gypsy cursed Rutherford inwardly as she slowly crawled. The path she had passed was soaked with something sticky, and the stench was so bad that her own sense of smell was becoming numb.

Soldiers who passed by discovered Gypsy, but they couldn’t approach her rashly, as she looked like a terrifying monster with gills and fins crawling on the ground.

‘Because my fins are torn, I can’t go to the abyss.’

The moment she stepped into the abyss, would she even be able to swim in it, let alone the immense pain? Like other thoughts, she would also sink and waste away the years.

Gypsy pushed with her elbows and crawled forward little by little, wondering what to do. She was inside the Agiar wall, so she couldn’t push past the armed soldiers and get out, and above all—

“It seems like just tearing the gills doesn’t kill you right away?”

Once she was in Rutherford’s grasp, she wouldn’t be able to escape easily.

Gypsy suddenly thought of Melania and Clark, who had said they would go to the Bariel camp together. They were a bit annoying, but they weren’t bad. At least compared to Rutherford.

“Ugh, uh, uh-”

“I didn’t cut your tongue. Don’t be dramatic.”

When Gypsy choked, Rutherford pressed her head down with his foot. Then, he gestured to the soldiers to bring him a sword.

Swoosh.

Now that all the poison was gone, she should vomit out what was inside her. Just as Rutherford said that and raised his sword—

Clang!

A sharp dagger flew and struck his sword accurately. The soldiers immediately went on alert and surrounded their master, and Rutherford turned to look at the direction the dagger had come from. Following the trail where Gypsy had crawled out, two magic swordsmen had stuck to him.

“Rutherford!”

Barsabe and Bonita.

The two looked around and swallowed hard.

‘It’s really Rutherford.’

They never thought they would meet him so easily.

The two slowly approached, watching Gypsy’s trembling back.

“You seem to know me, but I don’t know you.”

“I am Bonita, one of the three Imperial Guard Captains.”

“I am Barsabe of the Imperial Guard!”

“Ah.”

I see. So, what do you want?

As Rutherford smiled and put his sword on his shoulder, Bonita calmly said.

“You must not kill Gypsy. It will bring chaos to the world.”

“I thought the Imperial Guard would know that’s what I want.”

“It’s not what you want, it’s what the Undergod wants!”

When Bonita shouted, Rutherford’s brow furrowed. What was that thing babbling about? Undergod? Of Toolun?

“…Are you crazy?”

“If you think I’m crazy, you’re right. Because you’re the one who’s crazy. You’re being deceived by the shadow of a god, daring to blaspheme against the god, and now you’re trying to endanger Gaia!”

“Shut up!”

He couldn’t stand it. When Rutherford shouted, magic swordsmen rushed down from the stairs. Warriors from Burgos and Ruswena. They stood in front of Rutherford and pointed their swords at Bonita and Barsabe with murderous intent.

Tap tap!

Then, soldiers filled the back as well. A narrow passage. There was no room for Bonita and Barsabe to escape.

“Listen well. Since you are also beings who use magic as a source, I will show you my small generosity and tell you. The god you speak of is wicked and is eating away at Gaia, so our god is trying to destroy Bariel and build a new Gaia. It’s a truly grand plan.”

Bonita and Barsabe glared at Rutherford with dumbfounded eyes. How could they save someone who was so steeped in false beliefs? They knew that it was faster to end it with death.

“And I too!”

There was a time when he was part of the Imperial Palace under the name of Bandor, but the end was tragic. What was it to be for Bariel? What was it that took away his comrades, destroyed his life, and weathered him?

He hated and regretted it. He hated Bariel, who had ordered him, and regretted accepting it.

Buzz. Buzz.

As Rutherford breathed heavily, Bonita and Barsabe released their magic. Even if they died together here, it was right to take that bastard down.

“The steps I take are to correct my mistakes.”

“Shut up! No matter how you try to justify it, you’re just a puppet of the shadow!”

Tap tap!

Thud!

“Ugh!”

As Barsabe jumped in, everything happened at the same time. Rutherford’s sword pierced Gypsy’s stomach, a magic swordsman from Burgos jumped past him, and the soldiers surrounded them, narrowing the gap.

Whoosh!

And then—

A fierce energy surged from Gypsy’s opened stomach, and black and blue smoke poured out, filling the surroundings. The intense toxicity made their vision go dark in an instant, and they felt like their insides were turning upside down.

Rutherford retreated, protected and supported by the magic swordsmen, and the soldiers collapsed, drooling yellow saliva.

“Ugh-!”

Barsabe and Bonita were the same. They also realized that their consciousness was fading, and nodded. Even if the wall collapsed now, there was nothing they could do. They had to create a space to breathe somehow.

Buzz! Buzz!

Clang!

Bonita pressed her hand on the ground with her eyes tightly closed, and then, with a huge earthquake, sand fell from the ceiling. The earth was splitting.

Thud! Thud! Thud! Clang!

“Captain!”

“Barsabe! Stay focused!”

“Haaah!”

The walls and ceiling were collapsing helplessly.

The whole world was dyed in darkness.

“The wall is collapsing! Over there, the north wall!”

Meanwhile, Jin, who was watching the situation, heard the report and quickly grabbed his binoculars. A huge cloud of sand dust was rising, and the wall was caved in on one side.

What should we do? Everyone was silent, as if waiting for Jin’s command, and he swallowed hard. He wanted to order the rescue team to be dispatched right away, but…

“Turn the soldiers to the north. Enter through the collapsed wall.”